Cream Of Shiitake Mushroom Soup

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.04

Title: CREAM OF SHIITAKE MUSHROOM SOUP
Categories: Soups, Low-fat, Low-cal, Vegetarian, Kump
Yield: 4 servings

1 qt Milk; whole, low-fat or skim
1 sm Onion; peeled and stuck with
2 Cloves
6 Whole peppercorns (or more)
1 pn Salt

-----------------------BOUQUET GARNI-----------------------
:Tie in cheesecloth,
6 Fresh parsley stems,
1/2 ts Dried leaf thyme
1/2 Bay leaf

------------------------SOUP, CON'T------------------------
4 tb Rice flour
-(or barley or oat flour)
4 tb Cold milk (about)
8 oz Shiitake mushrooms

-------------------------OPTIONAL-------------------------
6 tb Heavy cream
2 tb Madeira
Reserved mushroom slices

This rich, earthy soup has but 100 calories per
serving if made with non-fat milk.

PLACE THE MILK, ONION, peppercorns, salt and bouquet
garni in a saucepan and bring slowly to a boil. Form a
smooth paste of the rice flour and the cold milk. Put
into the just-boiling milk and stir briskly until
there are no lumps. Simmer over very low heat for 20
minutes. Meanwhile, cut off the tough ends of the
mushroom stems. Reserve a few mushroom slices for
garnish and chop the remaining mushrooms coarsely,
then place in a food processor with a steel blade and
chop as finely as possible. Strain the milk mixture
through a fine sieve back into the saucepan; add the
chopped mushrooms and continue simmering 5 minutes.
Add the cream and Madeira, if you wish, and serve in
hot bowls, garnished with a slice of mushroom.

-----